Microsoft Considered Renaming Internet Explorer Due To Negative Perceptions

According to Net Applications, Internet Explorer has more than a 58% web browser market share as of now. This is about triple the market share of the second-place browser,
Google Chrome. However, Internet Explorer is known for having a bad reputation because previous versions of the software were vulnerable to security breaches so
Microsoft considered rebranding with a new name for the browser.

The potential rebranding was revealed when engineers from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer platform team answered questions during an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) discussion on Reddit. Reddit user asianorange asked the Internet Explorer team: “Have [sic] you ever consider rebranding and changing the name of Internet Explorer?”

Here is how Microsoft engineer Jonathan Sampson responded:

“It's been suggested internally; I remember a particularly long email thread where numerous people were passionately debating it. Plenty of ideas get kicked around about how we can separate ourselves from negative perceptions that no longer reflect our product today.”

A follow-up question was asked about why they kept the Internet Explorer name after the debate. Sampson added:

“The discussion I recall seeing was a very recent one (just a few weeks ago). Who knows what the future holds.”

This indicates that the name Internet Explorer may still be changed in the future.

Internet Explorer / Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft has taken steps to reduce the fragmentation of its browsers. For example, it stopped offering support for older versions of Internet Explorer and out-of-date ActiveX control. On January 12, 2016, Microsoft will stop supporting IE 9 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2, IE 10 for Windows Server 2012 and IE 11 for Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2.

The Internet Explorer team was asked about porting Internet Explorer to Android or iOS. Microsoft said that there are “no current plans for Android/iOS.” These plans may eventually change because Android and iOS are the leading mobile operating systems. Earlier this year, Microsoft released Office for the iPad.

Microsoft said that it is planning to bring some of the features from the “metro” version of the browser to the desktop version. In the AMA, Microsoft said it may add FlipAhead, reading view, swiping for back/forward and the ability to use website images as Favorites to the desktop version of Internet Explorer.

In 2003, Internet Explorer was dominating with a 95% web browser market share because Microsoft bundled it with the Windows operating system. However, there was a large gap in time where Microsoft did not update its IE 6 browser. This gave Mozilla an opportunity to gain web browser market share when it released the Firefox browser in 2004. Internet Explorer is still the most used browser in the world today, but its popularity has been dropping due to competition against Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Opera.

"It's not a nice feeling. Especially knowing that often times the decision to not use Internet Explorer is largely based on experiences from a decade ago, and a much different IE," added Sampson in the AMA. "That being said, we know it's our job to change the public perception, and to win the hearts of users every where. Each people to open IE, and download another browser, is another person we'll be working even harder tomorrow to win back."

What are your thoughts about Microsoft potentially changing the name of Internet Explorer? Do you think a rebranding could help? Let us know in the comments below!